Brothers, Daedalus & St John's
Brothers, Daedalus, and St John's are the Egyptian Red Sea stripped to essentials: tiny reefs and islands far offshore, reachable only by liveaboard, where walls plunge from lighthouse islets straight into shark water. The Brothers add two historic wrecks draped in soft coral; Daedalus stacks scalloped hammerheads off its northern point; St John's spreads caverns and pinnacles near the Sudanese border. This is Egypt's big-animal circuit.
Waarom hier duiken
Isolation does the work. Big Brother is a 400-meter sliver of rock under a Victorian lighthouse, and its walls carry the traffic of open sea: grey reef sharks on the plateaus, oceanic whitetips under the boats in fall, thresher sharks rising from the thermocline at first light. The Numidia and Aida, wrecked against the island a half-century apart, have become vertical gardens of soft coral. Daedalus, some 90 kilometers off Marsa Alam, is the most reliable scalloped hammerhead station in Egyptian water from late spring through summer, with an anemone field on its north point that ripples like weather. The St John's group softens the itinerary with sunlit cavern mazes and gorgonian-hung walls. Seas are open, currents honest, and schedules long - most boats ask for advanced certification and a meaningful logbook before they take you.
Maand voor maand
Liveaboards run most of the year, but winter crossings can be rough and departures thin out. Hammerheads school at Daedalus roughly May-August; oceanic whitetips concentrate at the Brothers and Daedalus in October-November.
| Maand | Water | Zicht | Hoe het voelt |
|---|---|---|---|
| January●●●○○ | 23–25 °C / 73–77 °F | 20–40 m | Rough crossings; fewer departures. |
| February●●●○○ | 22–24 °C / 72–75 °F | 20–40 m | Coolest water; hardy schedules only. |
| March●●●●○ | 23–25 °C / 73–77 °F | 20–40 m | Season warms as the seas ease. |
| April●●●●○ | 24–26 °C / 75–79 °F | 20–40 m | Reliable crossings resume. |
| May●●●●● | 25–27 °C / 77–81 °F | 20–40 m | Hammerhead schooling builds at Daedalus. |
| June●●●●● | 26–28 °C / 79–82 °F | 20–40 m | Calm seas and strong shark action. |
| July●●●●● | 27–29 °C / 81–84 °F | 20–40 m | Schooling hammerheads; hot decks. |
| August●●●●○ | 28–30 °C / 82–86 °F | 20–40 m | Warmest water; hammerheads taper. |
| September●●●●● | 28–30 °C / 82–86 °F | 20–40 m | Transition month - a bit of everything. |
| October●●●●● | 27–29 °C / 81–84 °F | 20–40 m | Oceanic whitetip peak at the Brothers. |
| November●●●●○ | 25–27 °C / 77–81 °F | 20–40 m | Whitetips linger; wind returns late in the month. |
| December●●●○○ | 24–26 °C / 75–79 °F | 20–40 m | Winter seas cut the schedule back. |
Betrouwbaarheid van de maandcijfers: Documented. Maanden zonder rij hebben geen geverifieerde gegevens — we tonen liever een lege plek dan dat we iets verzinnen.
De duiklocaties (7)
| Locatie | Type | Diepte | Niveau | Toegang | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aida A deep, coral-sheathed hull on a dramatic slope; pairing with the island's… | Wreck | 30–60 m | Advanced | Liveaboard | |
| Big Brother Dawn thresher encounters; fall oceanic whitetips beneath the boats; wall… | Wall | 5–40 m | Advanced | Liveaboard | |
| Daedalus Reef Schooling scalloped hammerheads in early summer; Anemone City; the… | Wall | 5–40 m | Advanced | Liveaboard | |
| Habili Ali Giant gorgonians and black coral; sharks on the up-current face; a pure… | Pinnacle | 8–40 m | Advanced | Liveaboard | |
| Little Brother The gorgonian forest on the north point; threshers and whitetips in season… | Wall | 5–40 m | Advanced | Liveaboard | |
| Numidia Locomotive wheels at the crest; soft coral on century-old steel; sharks… | Wreck | 8–40 m | Advanced | Liveaboard | |
| St John's Caves Cathedral light shafts in shallow tunnels; low-stress cavern penetration… | Reef | 4–18 m | Intermediate | Liveaboard |
Zeeleven om je duik op te plannen
Oceanic Whitetip Shark
Scalloped Hammerhead
Silky Shark
Great Hammerhead
Pelagic Thresher Shark
Scalloped hammerhead schools, oceanic whitetips, thresher and grey reef sharks, dogtooth tuna, soft-coral wreck faces, and anemone cities thick with Red Sea anemonefish.
Wrakken hier
Aida
Numidia
Hoe kom je er & verblijf
Hoe kom je er: Book the boat first; almost all guests fly into Marsa Alam or Hurghada and transfer to the marina the same evening.
Waar verblijven: Accommodation is the boat. A marina-hotel night in Port Ghalib before or after the cruise smooths flight timing.
Liveaboards: Seven-night itineraries from Port Ghalib or Hurghada are standard, often labeled BDE (Brothers-Daedalus-Elphinstone) or Deep South for the St John's reefs.
Kosten: Liveaboard-only - no day boats reach these reefs. Budget for marine-park fees on top of charter rates; seven-night itineraries are the norm.
Tussen de duiken door: Effectively none once aboard - reading, surface intervals, and a lighthouse visit at Big Brother or Daedalus when landings are permitted.
Veiligheid & praktische zaken
Gevaren: Strong, shifting currents; blue-water descents and ascents; distance from help measured in hours; oceanic whitetips demand disciplined surface behavior - incidents in 2018 briefly closed the Brothers before conduct rules were tightened.
Carry a surface marker, reel, and ideally a personal locator beacon on every dive; follow negative-entry and group protocols exactly. This is no place for rusty skills, and many boats verify logbooks.
Dichtstbijzijnde recompressiekamer: No chamber offshore; evacuation to mainland facilities takes hours. Availability changes - emergencies route through the boat's protocols, EMS, and DAN.